USGA/Pinehurst verdict: F as in failure

[Michael Morandi]

How many US OPENs can one win hitting 5 of 14 fairways and missing 7 of the last 9? Your opponent drives it great all day and on his rare miss ends up against the wire grass, while the erratic driver never does all week. No doubt the winner gutted it out while the loser did not but still the USGA failed in its mission.  Too much luck involved.

[Rob Marshall]

How many US OPENs can one win hitting 5 of 14 fairways and missing 7 of the last 9? Your opponent drives it great all day and on his rare miss ends up against the wire grass, while the erratic driver never does all week. No doubt the winner gutted it out while the loser did not but still the USGA failed in its mission.  Too much luck involved.

I’m a HUGE Rory fan, but he gave it away. He has to be gutted. 3 majors in the last few years should have been his.

[Blake Conant]

Are you arguing that in the end the best player didn’t win? Thats ridiculous if so.


Bryson got luckier breaks than Rory when he got into the wiregrass, but he also doesn’t win if Rory makes a 2 footer and a 3 footer in the final 4 holes. Golf doesn’t afford equal consequences, that’s the beauty of it. The more you try to standardize the game the more sterile it becomes.


Also, saying he got lucky does a huge disservice to his genius around the greens. His ability to recover when he did get in trouble was beautiful to watch. The up and down for par on 8, the up and down for birdie on 10, the up and down for par on 11, and the incredible, incredible par on 18 were some of the best golf of the day.

[V. Kmetz]

These things are now all levels of contrivance...LA last year...Chambers 10 years ago...DJ on Oakmonst 5th in 16...Erin Hills lacking wind... Shinnecock is a joke bag...golf has just lost the plot, but as long as the ads are bought, it will be promulgated as  greatness... decent entertainment, but lousy championship golf.

[Michael Morandi]

Are you arguing that in the end the best player didn’t win? Thats ridiculous if so.


Bryson got luckier breaks than Rory when he got into the wiregrass, but he also doesn’t win if Rory makes a 2 footer and a 3 footer in the final 4 holes. Golf doesn’t afford equal consequences, that’s the beauty of it. The more you try to standardize the game the more sterile it becomes.


Also, saying he got lucky does a huge disservice to his genius around the greens. His ability to recover when he did get in trouble was beautiful to watch. The up and down for par on 8, the up and down for birdie on 10, the up and down for par on 11, and the incredible, incredible par on 18 were some of the best golf of the day.

[Richard Muldoon]

Yes DeChambeau did get a huge amount of luck on the all day, but to be fair to him on the last, with a bad lie for his second, he made par when it mattered. Sadly Rory couldn't. I've had the feeling for a number of years that he won't win another major and i think that might just be one mental scar too many. I hope I'm wrong.
There was a lot of luck with lies but it was entertaining stuff and I would prefer to watch that, rather the bore fest that the PGA was for the most part.

[Michael Morandi]

Are you arguing that in the end the best player didn’t win? Thats ridiculous if so.


Bryson got luckier breaks than Rory when he got into the wiregrass, but he also doesn’t win if Rory makes a 2 footer and a 3 footer in the final 4 holes. Golf doesn’t afford equal consequences, that’s the beauty of it. The more you try to standardize the game the more sterile it becomes.


Also, saying he got lucky does a huge disservice to his genius around the greens. His ability to recover when he did get in trouble was beautiful to watch. The up and down for par on 8, the up and down for birdie on 10, the up and down for par on 11, and the incredible, incredible par on 18 were some of the best golf of the day.

Read my post again: of all the majors, the US Open is supposed to be the most demanding off the tee. Bryson showed incredible guts and creativity around the greens but he failed the driver test and wasn't penalized for it because of luck that Rory didn’t get on 18. No doubt Rory gave it away with missed short putts under the gun.

[V. Kmetz]

Entertainment yes, but my real take away is that there is no antidote for drives that go 330-370... and these contrived closely mown, run offs at 13+ on the stimp are now the only architecture that profiles.

[Michael Morandi]

At my club, which features wide fairways, if you hit it in the native grass you don’t get to the back of the ball as was the case at Pinehurst.

[Steve_ Shaffer]

Does anyone think that a few " punchbowl " greens  needs to happen at Pinehurst #2 ? 

[Alex Miller]

A+ drama and for the purpose of the tournament A+ course.


It will go overlooked this week with the distance Bryson hits the ball, but he putted and scrambled better than 95+% of the field. Were his lies lucky? Some of them surely, but he also struck the ball with more precision than anyone else especially out of the native. A skill that is no doubt required when swinging the club as fast as he does and hitting it as straight as he does.


And for the course, conditions were clearly managed very very well. It may not be possible to produce an even par winner without substantial wind anymore, but there wasn't really anything that was tricked up beyond the brink. The course firmed up day after day and I think today's conditions were all that could have been asked for.


I'm more of a fan of Rory than Bryson, but hats off to his play and the course for identifying the best golfer this week.

[Garland Bayley]

What Alex said.

[Richard Hetzel]

How many US OPENs can one win hitting 5 of 14 fairways and missing 7 of the last 9? Your opponent drives it great all day and on his rare miss ends up against the wire grass, while the erratic driver never does all week. No doubt the winner gutted it out while the loser did not but still the USGA failed in its mission.  Too much luck involved.

He could have EASILY hit a 3 wood 280-290 and been in the fairway. Live by the driver, die by the driver. No one to blame but himself.

[Craig Sweet]

Ohhhh....I learned something new! "Of all the majors the US Open is supposed to be the most demanding off the tee."  I guess  I'll stop talking about the US Open being the most demanding on and around the greens. LOL

[Dan_Callahan]

I thought that was one of the best setups and most entertaining US Opens in years. Last week, my opinion of #2 was that it is an overrated course. After watching how it played the last four days, I am now a huge fan.

[Joe_Tucholski]

At my club, which features wide fairways, if you hit it in the native grass you don’t get to the back of the ball as was the case at Pinehurst.

Is that a good thing that you don't get to the back of the ball when missing the fairway?

[Erik J. Barzeski]

How many US OPENs can one win hitting 5 of 14 fairways and missing 7 of the last 9? Your opponent drives it great all day and on his rare miss ends up against the wire grass, while the erratic driver never does all week. No doubt the winner gutted it out while the loser did not but still the USGA failed in its mission.  Too much luck involved.

Oh boy.

It was a stricter second-shot golf course than Augusta National, IMO, and this was a total win. The wind was pretty light, so they could cut the holes right near the edges…

There was some luck, sure, but that's true pretty darn often in golf. You get good lies in the rough when you have it, or bad lies.

And as Blake said, he hit some INCREDIBLE short game shots, and incredible approach shots.

Read my post again: of all the majors, the US Open is supposed to be the most demanding off the tee.

Says who?

[Michael Morandi]

Definitely very entertaining that asked for answers that the pros rarely get asked. Who thinks that Bryson would have been able to hit it out of thick rough to the best misses near and on the greens at Pinehurst?  Don’t compare it to Winged Foot.  Different greens.  He got so many lies in the natives that gave him a clear chance to get his club on the back of the ball. Can you imagine gouging out of 2-3 inch rough to Pinehurst green complexes? So the natives were supposed to be feared but the USGA contrived areas were rarely penal…to him. Don't get me wrong, he was  impressive everywhere but off the tee today.

[Michael Morandi]

How many US OPENs can one win hitting 5 of 14 fairways and missing 7 of the last 9? Your opponent drives it great all day and on his rare miss ends up against the wire grass, while the erratic driver never does all week. No doubt the winner gutted it out while the loser did not but still the USGA failed in its mission.  Too much luck involved.

Oh boy.

It was a stricter second-shot golf course than Augusta National, IMO, and this was a total win. The wind was pretty light, so they could cut the holes right near the edges…

There was some luck, sure, but that's true pretty darn often in golf. You get good lies in the rough when you have it, or bad lies.

And as Blake said, he hit some INCREDIBLE short game shots, and incredible approach shots.

Read my post again: of all the majors, the US Open is supposed to be the most demanding off the tee.

Says who?

Says who?  Where have you been the last few decades. Do some research and look at the percentage of fairways hit in each major.

[Joe Wandro]

How many US OPENs can one win hitting 5 of 14 fairways and missing 7 of the last 9? Your opponent drives it great all day and on his rare miss ends up against the wire grass, while the erratic driver never does all week. No doubt the winner gutted it out while the loser did not but still the USGA failed in its mission.  Too much luck involved.

Oh boy.

It was a stricter second-shot golf course than Augusta National, IMO, and this was a total win. The wind was pretty light, so they could cut the holes right near the edges…

There was some luck, sure, but that's true pretty darn often in golf. You get good lies in the rough when you have it, or bad lies.

And as Blake said, he hit some INCREDIBLE short game shots, and incredible approach shots.

Read my post again: of all the majors, the US Open is supposed to be the most demanding off the tee.

Says who?

Second that. That’s the most interesting pro golf I can remember watching.

[Kalen Braley]

Michael,

I would tend to agree here on account of:  typically in a US Open when you miss a fairway, you are almost always punished...as opposed to this week, when you were only occasionally punished.

And don't forget one of those 5 fairways Bryson hit today was on 16 when his ball skirted thru 20 yards of crap and got a lucky kick back into the fairway.

P.S.  John K best summed up the argument yesterday:

"My criticism has to do with the "native" rough areas.  They are unique to modern tournament golf.  I have trouble with the concept that professional players must contend with a unique style of rough for the national championship.  The pros never hit out of wire grass or unmaintained sand, and every eight or nine years at Pinehurst they are required to do any time they miss the fairway.Furthermore, there's a big difference between the best and worst lies in the native areas.  Therefore, the role of luck plays a considerable role in the player's performance.  I can't say for sure whether the variability in luck is greater here at Pinehurst, but I think it probably is."

[Tim Martin]

To intimate that Bryson won because he had more luck as far as drawing a lie in the wire grass doesn’t begin to tell the story over the four days. I’m a Rory fan but he played the last four holes three over and missed two short putts on 16 and 18. The course/setup provided no shortage of drama and I really enjoyed the tournament. Are there those that think thick rough would be better than sand/wire grass especially from a spectator standpoint? I would much rather watch them play from the native area than hack out of the rough.

[Michael Morandi]

Nobody is arguing that Rory didn’t  drop the ball. The question is should Bryson have been near the top with as many fairways that  he missed. It is the US OPEN after all.

[Rob Marshall]

Don’t remember what hole it was and all anyone will remember about this Open and Rory will be the two missed short putts, but how about the great shot he hit into the par 5 that got to about 20 for eagle and the dribbled off the green into the crap and he walked off with bogey instead of a simple two putt birdie. I thought that was awful. That said it probably happened to most of the field at some point. There was a lot of luck involved in this Open.

[Daryl David]

Nobody is arguing that Rory didn’t  drop the ball. The question is should Bryson have been near the top with as many fairways that  he missed. It is the US OPEN after all.

Yes he should. He answered the questions presented by the course and USGA. That’s why he is the champion. The others didn’t. That’s the way it works.